Omaha state senator pushing for new CBD oil and industrial hemp laws

KARLA JAMESNovember 24, 2018

OMAHA - There is a gray area in Nebraska when it comes to cannabis that Omaha State Senator Justin Wayne wants modernized and clarified.

Senator Wayne says, “A long time ago when people thought of peyote, they thought of weed and getting high. There was another plant out there called industrial hemp that was very good in WWI and WWI for making uniforms and everything and we lumped them together in codes that said it was all part of the cannabis plant. What we have done in the last 30 to 40 years is researched the benefits of some of the cannaboids in this plant that do not get you high but are beneficial to pain.” Along with pain, CBD oil has shown success in treating victims of PTSD, anxiety and inflammation.

Senator Wayne plans to introduce two bills with the first removing CBD oil from the state statutes that ban it. The second bill would allow farmers to grow industrial hemp. He says there is still plenty of wild industrial hemp growing in Nebraska as the state had more hemp per-acre than other in the nation. This could again be a boom for Nebraska farmers, especially if CBD oil use is allowed in the state.

The CBD oil that would be allowed in Nebraska would contain less than .03% THC. Senator Wayne is it would be impossible to get high on this oil even if it was used constantly all day. The benefits of the oil outweigh the outdated laws on Nebraska books.

There is word that Attorney General Doug Peterson wants cannabis to remain illegal. Wayne says, “That is what he is saying. It is hard to distinguish the two. I can go to Costco and get hemp hearts which is a healthy fiber and protein but CBD oils is somehow illegal. It is that confusing language or opinion from the Attorney General is making this market hard to grow.”